diff --git a/docs/src/test-api/class-testconfig.md b/docs/src/test-api/class-testconfig.md
index 7d24845a5410a..fc21a4d9d9c64 100644
--- a/docs/src/test-api/class-testconfig.md
+++ b/docs/src/test-api/class-testconfig.md
@@ -439,6 +439,12 @@ export default defineConfig({
 
 Test files that took more than `threshold` milliseconds are considered slow, and the slowest ones are reported, no more than `max` number of them. Passing zero as `max` reports all test files that exceed the threshold.
 
+## property: TestConfig.respectGitIgnore
+* since: v1.45
+- type: ?<[boolean]>
+
+Whether to skip entries from `.gitignore` when searching for test files. By default, if neither [`property: TestConfig.testDir`] nor [`property: TestProject.testDir`] are explicitely specified, Playwright will ignore any test files matching `.gitignore` entries. This option allows to override that behavior.
+
 ## property: TestConfig.retries
 * since: v1.10
 - type: ?<[int]>
diff --git a/docs/src/test-api/class-testproject.md b/docs/src/test-api/class-testproject.md
index 7477a3a88dd7e..562dc76e09360 100644
--- a/docs/src/test-api/class-testproject.md
+++ b/docs/src/test-api/class-testproject.md
@@ -223,6 +223,12 @@ The number of times to repeat each test, useful for debugging flaky tests.
 
 Use [`property: TestConfig.repeatEach`] to change this option for all projects.
 
+## property: TestProject.respectGitIgnore
+* since: v1.45
+- type: ?<[boolean]>
+
+Whether to skip entries from `.gitignore` when searching for test files. By default, if neither [`property: TestConfig.testDir`] nor [`property: TestProject.testDir`] are explicitely specified, Playwright will ignore any test files matching `.gitignore` entries. This option allows to override that behavior.
+
 ## property: TestProject.retries
 * since: v1.10
 - type: ?<[int]>
diff --git a/packages/playwright/src/common/config.ts b/packages/playwright/src/common/config.ts
index aadfb007546d5..015dbc1e71dc2 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/src/common/config.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/src/common/config.ts
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ export class FullProjectInternal {
       const stylePaths = Array.isArray(this.expect.toHaveScreenshot.stylePath) ? this.expect.toHaveScreenshot.stylePath : [this.expect.toHaveScreenshot.stylePath];
       this.expect.toHaveScreenshot.stylePath = stylePaths.map(stylePath => path.resolve(configDir, stylePath));
     }
-    this.respectGitIgnore = !projectConfig.testDir && !config.testDir;
+    this.respectGitIgnore = takeFirst(projectConfig.respectGitIgnore, config.respectGitIgnore, !projectConfig.testDir && !config.testDir);
     this.ignoreSnapshots = takeFirst(configCLIOverrides.ignoreSnapshots,  projectConfig.ignoreSnapshots, config.ignoreSnapshots, false);
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/playwright/types/test.d.ts b/packages/playwright/types/test.d.ts
index 404d255577c66..1570d0046bb5c 100644
--- a/packages/playwright/types/test.d.ts
+++ b/packages/playwright/types/test.d.ts
@@ -363,6 +363,15 @@ interface TestProject<TestArgs = {}, WorkerArgs = {}> {
    */
   repeatEach?: number;
 
+  /**
+   * Whether to skip entries from `.gitignore` when searching for test files. By default, if neither
+   * [testConfig.testDir](https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-testconfig#test-config-test-dir) nor
+   * [testProject.testDir](https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-testproject#test-project-test-dir) are explicitely
+   * specified, Playwright will ignore any test files matching `.gitignore` entries. This option allows to override that
+   * behavior.
+   */
+  respectGitIgnore?: boolean;
+
   /**
    * The maximum number of retry attempts given to failed tests. Learn more about
    * [test retries](https://playwright.dev/docs/test-retries#retries).
@@ -1360,6 +1369,15 @@ interface TestConfig<TestArgs = {}, WorkerArgs = {}> {
     threshold: number;
   };
 
+  /**
+   * Whether to skip entries from `.gitignore` when searching for test files. By default, if neither
+   * [testConfig.testDir](https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-testconfig#test-config-test-dir) nor
+   * [testProject.testDir](https://playwright.dev/docs/api/class-testproject#test-project-test-dir) are explicitely
+   * specified, Playwright will ignore any test files matching `.gitignore` entries. This option allows to override that
+   * behavior.
+   */
+  respectGitIgnore?: boolean;
+
   /**
    * The maximum number of retry attempts given to failed tests. By default failing tests are not retried. Learn more
    * about [test retries](https://playwright.dev/docs/test-retries#retries).
diff --git a/tests/playwright-test/gitignore.spec.ts b/tests/playwright-test/gitignore.spec.ts
index 588cb9e07fd4b..2141d7878c41d 100644
--- a/tests/playwright-test/gitignore.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/playwright-test/gitignore.spec.ts
@@ -157,3 +157,40 @@ test('should ignore .gitignore inside project testDir', async ({ runInlineTest }
   expect(result.passed).toBe(2);
 });
 
+test('global config respectGitIgnore', {
+  annotation: { type: 'issue', description: 'https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/issues/30553' }
+}, async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
+    'tests/.gitignore': `
+      *.js
+    `,
+    'playwright.config.js': `
+      module.exports = { respectGitIgnore: false, projects: [{ }] };
+    `,
+    'tests/a.spec.js': `
+      import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+      test('pass', ({}) => {});
+    `,
+  });
+  expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+  expect(result.passed).toBe(1);
+});
+
+test('project config respectGitIgnore', {
+  annotation: { type: 'issue', description: 'https://github.com/microsoft/playwright/issues/30553' }
+}, async ({ runInlineTest }) => {
+  const result = await runInlineTest({
+    'tests/.gitignore': `
+      *.js
+    `,
+    'playwright.config.js': `
+      module.exports = { projects: [{ respectGitIgnore: false }] };
+    `,
+    'tests/a.spec.js': `
+      import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';
+      test('pass', ({}) => {});
+    `,
+  });
+  expect(result.exitCode).toBe(0);
+  expect(result.passed).toBe(1);
+});